What made you choose MSU over some of the more established programs?

“I always liked Michigan State as a kid growing up. I was a big fan of Magic Johnson and Steve Smith and I watched the Eric Snows and the Shawn Resperts and all those guys. I just think when Antonio (Smith) and Morris (Peterson) came here, they were from Flint and then Coach Izzo; I just love Coach Izzo and the passion that he had. I really felt that he was a good person, let alone a good, young coach. Just the state of the whole university. When I came to Michigan State, just the athletics (and) everybody, not just basketball but everybody and the whole state of the university. Everybody just had a great attitude and work ethic and were very nice people, and that was something I wanted to be a part of.”

How often do you stay in contact with the Flintstones (Peterson, Charlie Bell and Cleaves)?

“The Flintstones, we talk all the time. It’s not only about the Flintstones. We all talk. I talk to Mo Pete just as much as I talk to Jason Richardson or Andre Hutson. I talk to Antonio (Smith) just as much as I might talk to A.J. Granger or Adam Ballinger or David Thomas or Mike Chappell. That’s just how it is, you know? We got a little notoriety all being from Flint, but it was a family thing here, and it was a whole team effort.”

I was close to 10 years old when the 2000 NCAA championship game took place. Take me through the emotions of that game.

“It was so emotional because we talked about getting back there, and our whole goal was to get back to win it all. Our focus was to win a national championship. There were a lot of emotions in it, but it was all business. We didn’t care about the hype. We didn’t care about the attention that we got. The whole thing was to bring the championship trophy back to East Lansing — that was our focus. That’s the way I like it, and I couldn’t have wrote a book even better. We did it as a team. It wasn’t one player who did it by themselves, we did it as a team and that was how my whole career was here at Michigan State.”

Could you tell me about what you’re doing now?

Well, Fox Sports Detroit. I enjoy doing that. I grew up a Pistons fan and now to be able to sit and analyze the games and be a part of the Pistons organization again, it’s fun. Fox approached me. They found out I was done playing. At first I was a little skeptical because I didn’t train for that, but they invited me. I did a practice run and the next day, I was on live. I enjoy it. It keeps me around the game, but it’s not as time-consuming, so I get a chance to spend time with my family. I love it.”

After a disappointing 2010-11 season, what do you expect next season from the MSU basketball program?

“Nothing but the best. We expect to win championships — that’s the mentality here. We had a down year but it is what it is. The good thing is that people expect us to win so that’s a good thing. It didn’t go as planned, and we didn’t win a championship, and there’s some uproar about it and there should be. We expect to win championships here. Knowing Coach Izzo and the young guys up here, they’ll pick it right back up.”